Letter controlled mechanism



Sept. 19, 1944. B. KNAUER 2,358,401

LETT-ER CONTROLLED MECHANI SM Filed March 12, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR e/f/'Q/a/ fade/4 Lig/YQ ATTORNEY Sept. 19, 1944. B.ZKNAUER LETTER CONTROLLED MECHA'NIS'M Filed March 12, 1943` 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV NTOR @er fio/Q )Knauer MTM sept. 19,1944. B` KNAUER 2,353,401y

LETTER CONTROLLED MECHANISM Filed March l2, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 6er/#ak /6/7@ qe. f'

v ,S) BY ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 1.9, 1,944

UNTED STATES @met 2,358,401 Y LETTER CNTROLLED MUHANISM Berthold Knaller, East NorwalkrConn., assignor to Pitney-Bowes Postagel Meter Co., Stamford, Conn., avcorporatiorn of Delaware Appncatim'March 12, 1943, serial Ng. 478,891

` 5 Claims. ici. ,10inew y This invention relates to a postage printing machine and more particularly to letter'con-L trolled mechanism for preventing a tripping and printing operation until the letter has been inserted to a correct printing position 'with relation to the printing member.

It is the principal object to provide means whereby upon inserting aletter in a postage printing machine, the leading edge of the'letter will engage 'a member in the path thereof,

which member will effect movement of obstlTU-'ction means to obstruct'movement of the trip, and whereby, upon subsequent engagemeritof the leading ed'geoi the letter with a letters'top, the obstruction 'means will be removed-to free' the trip, and thus permit a printing. cycle of `operatio'nY to be effected' when the letteris in correct printingv relation with thek printing member.

It is 'a further object'to normally obstruct the letter stop from movement such asmay result from malicious intent or accident, and to control the release of said letter stop'bythe engage-v ment of the leading end of a letter with a member positioned in the path thereof. g

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the -invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and Yin the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that various changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A preferredembodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: I i

1 is a `part front elevational and part sectional view showing a portion of a postage printing machine and particularly the parts associated with the trip and letter stop mechanism;

Fig, 2. is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown inFig. 1, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is av fragmentary detail view, showing the result of the initial engagement of the leading end of a letter with amernber Whichjcontrols th operation of a trip obstruction means;` Fig. 4 is a view similar to the lower portion of Fig. 1, showing the leading end of a letter as I Vposition of certain parts duringr'fa printing cycle of, operation; and 1 xig. .6 is apartsectional and part elevational View taken in ltl'iedirection of the arrow 6 on Fig,

Land showing a manual 4trip and drive,lwith a trip kblocking mechanism and parts associated therewith. j

Referring to the mechanism in detaiL'the ma-` chine may be either power or hand driven. In the device herein disclosed, the machine is hand driven by means of a'crank I0, which when ro' ltated is adapted to rotate a spiral gear -Il to effect the drive of another spiral gearlZ and a printing drum ISlthroughrone complete cycle of operation. "lphe'crank' d and spiral gear I2 arexed toashaft Id, which shaft vis'carried byfsuitable bearings Itl-lwithin a casing 16.

As'bestshown in Fig. 6, said lever 25 is arranged to conveniently lie in thepath of the thumb'o'f theoperators hand when the crank It is gripped bythe operatorto effect a cycle of operation.

Befere'movement of the Vcr'anlfrcan be eifected, the trip Ylever 25k is rocked to rotate theY shaft 2.3'

and latch stop 2l, to thereby withdraw the nose portion 22 from the'path of. the lug I9, and thus free -the crank Hi for rotation.

A Cooperating with the latch stop 22 is an auxiliary mechanism which is associated with letter control mechanism for the purpose of preventing a trip untila letter,`which is to receive a postage impression, is .in .correct printing relation with the printing die i3d onthe printing drum I3.

- The auxiliary mechanism, best shown in Fig. 6, comprisesalever 2, which is pivotally mounted at 28 `on a bracket 29. `One end of said lever 2'1 Y i `extends upwardly from the pivot 23 vand has ,al

forked portion 34| in engagement with a pin, 32,

projecting from the side of the latch stop 2I..A`

downwardly kextending arm of Ysaid lever 2Y has a forked end33 engaging a pin 34, projecting from oneend'ofa rod 35. Said rod 35fis disposed in ahorizont'al direction through bearings {i6-,36. Under normalfprinting operationsthe release of the latch stop 2|, through `the Vrocking of the trip lever'25, willalsoV effect rocking of the lever n2'! andV move 'the rod 35 .to Ythe right, :as viewed'in Fig. 6,to `extent-l Ythe forward end` of said vrod through `an yopening 3T in a Vplate 38. Said Aplate 38 is secured to -aboss cion the front Wa1l'39 ofthe vinfiachineiframe-so v'as' to extend lslightly Y f beyo-ndor spacedV Vfrom said wall 39.22

If, wherrinserting -ailetterin the machinepan the machine.

posed arm 44, and a second upwardly disposed arm 45 formed on a wing extending outwardly from the lever 4|. The obstructing arm 43 is positioned within the space between the outside of the wall 38 and the inner side of the plate 38, and is adapted to be rocked about its pivot pin 42 from a normal non-obstructing position, as in Fig. 1, to an obstructing position in the path of the rod 35, as in Fig. 3, when a letter L is being advanced to, but before it reaches, a printing position.

Control means is provided for the arm 43, whereby said arm may be moved to an obstructing position when initially insertingV a letter L in Said control means comprises a letter engaging plate 46, Fig. 3, which plate has its upper end pivotally mounted at 41 upon a Vbracket 48. An arm 49 formed on a part of the plate structure 46 is linked to the upwardly disposed arm 45 of the rocker lever 4| by means of a link 5|. By means cfa spring52 which is connected between the arm 49 and a pin 53 projecting from the link 5|, and further by means of the engagement of a pin 53a with a slotted end 53h of the lever 5|, a yieldable connection is provided and the free end of the plate 46 is urged toward the surface of a letter feed plate 5D.

When inserting a letter L as in Fig. 3, the leading end thereof will engage the free end of the plate 46 and will rock same about the pivot 41f in a counter-clockwise direction to effect a pu1l,.through the spring 52 of the link 5|. This in turn will rock the rocker lever 4| in a counterclockwise direction, to move the upwardly extending arm 43 to an obstruction position in the path of the end 'of rod 35. During the periodof letter insertion therefore, the movement ofthe rod 35 will be obstructed, which in'turn will obstruct the operation of the trip lever 25.

To effect release or removal of the arm'43 from an obstructing position when the letter L Vhas reached a proper4 printing position, a letter Said shaft 55 is suitably.

the downwardly projecting arm 44 of the lever 4| With the lever arrangement as described above, which includes the levers 4|, 58, 64 and 66, a letter L upon being moved from the position of Fig. 3 to the position of Fig. 4, will`have engaged the letter stop lever 54 and moved same in a clockwise direction until the said stop lever reaches a predetermined stopping position. The said stopping position. is controlled .by means of the engagement of pin 63 of lever 58 with the free end 1| of a lever 12, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Said lever 12 is mounted upon a shaft 13 carried by one wall of the frame structure 56, and is normally urged against the lower surface of a cam 14 by means of a spring 15, which spring is stretched between a downwardly extending arm 16 on the lever 12 and a lug 11 on the lever 58. The cam 14 is fixed to a shaft 18, which shaft has also iixed thereon a gear 19, and a cupped cam member 8|. The shaft 18 is suitably supported in one wall 56 and a wall56a.

During the movement of the letter stop lever 54 from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 4, ythe lever A58, Fig. 5,`wil1 be rocked in a clockwiseV direction and the lever 64 will be rocked therewith as the result of the pin and slot connection 6|, 65. Movement of said lever 64 will also effect movement of the lever 4|, as the result of the engagement of the pin 68 of said lever 66 with the downwardly projecting arm 44 of the lever 4|. By the time the letter stop has reached the position of Fig. 4, the 1ever 4| will have been rocked to move the upfwardly disposed arm 43 from the path of the end of rod 35, thus freeing the trip mechanism for a tripping operation.

After tripping is effected by depressing the trip leverf25, the crank lris rotated to thus rotate the printing drum and effect a printing kopera.-

tion when the printing die |3a engages the upper is effected.

surface of the letter L, and with the aid of the impression roller 51, move the letter asV printing A drive is provided'to the camshaft 18 by means of a train of gears indicated at 82- 82a-82b, the latter gear meshing with gear 19. By means of said drive, cam 14 is rotated in'a counter-clockwise direction, and when said cam approaches the position shown in Fig. 5, it will have rotated the lever 12 about its pivotv 13 and arm 62, which has a forwardly projecting pin 63 Y near the upper end thereof. To the yrear of lever 58 is another lever 64, which is freely mount,- ed upon the shaft 55, but is joined,l with the lever 58 through the engagement ofthe lower pin 6| wall 3,9 ofthe frame structure. Said lever 66 alsov has apin projectingrearwardly therefrom, which p in extends within a slotted portion 69 in will have removed the free end 1| thereof from the path of the pin 63 on lever 68. The letter stop being thusv freed may be moved by the movement of the letter L durlngthe printing cycle as indicated in Fig. 5.

To prevent the return of the letter stop before the cycle is completed, the cupped cam member 8| which isfof flanged shell formation, with a` break in the flange'as at 83, will, during rotation, be adapted to pass over the pin 63 and cam the letter stop to a position below the lower surface of the letter. The letter stop is retained in said latter position until the end of the cycle, whereupon the pin 63 will belurged outwardly beyond the cam under the tension of spring 15, upon reaching the break 83 .in the flanged portion of the cam. The lever 12 will also return to its normal position under tension of said spring 15.

`In the operation of the above described mechanism, a. letter LV upon being inserted in the matn@ lever 64, and therebeyond intothe'/ path Vof '(15.y thereof Yinto theV path of the horizontally movable trip rod 35, and thus obstruct a tripping operation. As the letter L is further advanced, the leading end thereof will engage the letter stop 54 to rock said stop, the shaft 55 and lever 58, until the pin 63, which projects from lever 58, engages the end 1I of lever 12, as shown in Fig. 4. During the rocking movement of said letter stop 54, pin 68, which engages the downwardly disposed arm 44 of the lever 4l, will have eected removal of the upwardly extending arm 43 from the path of the horizontally movable bar 35.

A trip is now adapted to be eiected by depressing the trip lever 25 which frees the crank I ll. Rotation of said crank through a full revolution then is made to effect a cycle of operation.

During said operating cycle the shaft 18 is rotated, including the cam 14 and cam member 8|, the cam 14 effecting removal of the stop lever 12 from the path of the pin 63, to thus free the letter stop, and the flanged portion of cam member 8l being adapted to engage the pin 63 and effect removal of the letter stop to a position below thelower surface of the letter. Return of the parts to their normal position at the end of a cycle, is eiected by means of the spring 15.

While the above described mechanism provides control through the movement of a letter to a printing position to prevent an actual printing operation from being elected until the letter is in proper position to receive the printed impression, it is also desired to include means whereby the letter stop may be moved only through the vsequence of engagement of the leading end of thereby free the trip when the letter is properly positioned to receive the postage stamp impression.

2. In a machine havingA a printing drum and adapted to effect the printing of postage stamp impressions upon letters, a letter positioning stop engageable and movable by a letter to position the letter with respect to the printing drum, a trip to release the machine for a printing cycle of operation, letter engaging means associated Y with the trip and movable when engaged -by a 84, Figs. 2 and 4, fixed to the shaft 55, which collar has a notch 86 therein. Engaged with said notch 86 is a projecting lug 81 of a latch lever 88, which lever is pivotally supported upon a pin 89`carried by one of the walls 56. A letter trip linger 9| is normally disposed in the path of the letter at a predetermined position ahead of the letter stop 54, as in Fig. l, and is pivotally mounted upon a pin 92 carried by one of the walls 56. By means of a link 93, the latch lever 88 and trip finger 9| are joined together in such manner that when a letter is moved into engagement with the trip ringer 9|, the said nger will be rocked about its pivot pin 92 to effect with-- drawal of the lug portion 81 of latch 88 from the notch 86 of the latch collar 84. Therefore, by the time the letter advances to engage the letter stop 54, the said stop is free to be moved bythe letter. Return of the trip finger 9| to its normal position, as in Fig. l, may be effected by means of alight spring, such as indicated at 94 in Fig. 2.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. In a machine having a printing drum and adapted to effect the printing of postage stamp impressions upon letters, a letter positioning stop engageable and movable by a letter to position the letter with respect to theu printing drum, a trip to release the machine for a printing cycle of operation, letter engaging means associated with the trip and movable when engaged by a letter, obstruction means connected with the letter engaging means to obstruct a tripping operation while inserting a letter in the machine, and means controlled by the letter positioning stop to eiect removal of the obstruction means and letter, obstruction meansV connected with the letter engaging means to obstruct a tripping operation while inserting a letter in the machine, and means connecting the letter positioning stop with the obstruction means to effect removal of the obstruction means and thereby free the trip when the letter is properly positioned to receive the postage stamp impression.

3. In a printing machine having a rotary printing drum for printing postage upon letter, a drive for the printingdrum, ak trip to release said drive for a printing cycle of operation, a letter stop engageable by a letter upon moving the letter to a printing position, means associated with the trip and movable under control of the moving letter to an obstructing position to prevent operation of the trip until the letter able with the upper surface thereof before engaging the letter stop, obstruction means connected with the pivotal member and movable to an obstructing position :relative to the trip to prevent operation of the trip while inserting a letter in the machine, connections between the obstruction means and letter stop whereby the obstruction means is removed from an obstruction position when the leading edge of the letter reaches a printing position, thereby permitting a trip and printing operation when the letter is properly located to receive the printed lmpression.

5. In a printing machine having a rotary printing drum, a drive for the printing drum, a trip to release said drive for a printing cycle of operation, a movable letter stop engageable by theleading edge of a letter, latch means normally blocking movement of the stop, a latch release member engageable by a letter to free the stop, means normally positioned in the path of the letter and engageable by the letter after effecting the latch release, obstruction means connected with said latter means and 'movable to an obstructing position to prevent operation ofthe trip while inserting a letter, and connections between the obstruction means and letter stop, whereby the obstruction means is removed from an obstruction position when the leading edge of the letter reaches a printing position, thereby permitting a trip and printing operation when the letter is properly located to receive the printed impression.

BER'I'HQLD KNAUER. 

